Thinking about it, I think my dad realised alcohol did not agree with him in his late 40s / early 50s. He'd never drunk much at all but made some very good homemade wine in his 30s and 40s. Can't quite remember what he felt like. I think appalling, long-lasting headaches were part of it. Anyway, he gave it up completely.

JZJ, trying to remember- did you move to southern Oregon, or Washington state? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around weather that is so persistently so horrible anywhere in the pacific northwest. I thought it was supposed to be rainy but temperate, even in winter? Also, we seem to be opposite eaters: I have no problem eating small amounts during the day but can't seem to rein it in at/after dinner.

Saef, I'm glad you have a weekend legitimately free of catch-up work; you deserve it. I am choosing not to work this weekend (not that there isn't work I should be doing) in rebellion against the feeling of never being caught up. Childishly, "I'll show everyone who's boss; I'll work 45 hours a week and prove that my work can't be done in that amount of time" - as though anyone I work with/for gives a rat's *ss how long it takes me.

As for everyone who posted about alcohol intolerance, I've noticed a similar tendency to flush after small amounts. Haven't let it stop me yet though :>)

Getting back to the ironing... I'm reminded of one day when I was working at a high-tech company, and a bunch of us were standing around talking. One woman was saying how funny it was that some of the engineers had creases in the front of their jeans. One of the men in the group said, "I have creases in the front of my jeans." She said, "Why would you bother ironing them like that?" He said, "That's how they come back from the cleaners."

Which was the first time this woman realized that men don't spend time ironing if there is any other way to get it done.

To be fair, there are three of us in our house and we all do our own ironing + the general stuff. Two people are male. This 'women do all the ironing' thing drives me up the wall. The 'women do all the Christmas shopping' thing too. That's certainly not how we organise things.

(At my mum's) Today I'll shan't eat anything not on my diet and I'll increase my veg intake. I've lots of errands to run today so I'll also buy more veg.

DH washes and irons his own dress shirts. He got himself a fancy huge iron and ironing board with airmiles. He keeps offering to teach me to use this iron but I keep demurring. I own some summer dresses that will need ironing so I'll ask for a lesson then but I will not iron his stuff. We did that once, long ago, and it didn't work out.

Dagmar

I figured those of you with husbands who iron would be here to promptly respond. The point wasn't whether men can or do iron clothes--it was that often women have a mindset that adds chores to their burden instead of "outsourcing" them. If I were still a highly paid professional, I would not be ironing my own work clothes. Of course it's moot for me. I don't iron nuthin' any more!

Weight at 157.5, therefore, dreading the weigh-in at my doctor appointment later this afternoon, when the day's food will take me up past 160.

I have conflicting feelings about being a decently paid professional. You'd be surprised at some of my odd frugal habits, which all come from my upbringing. My mother's family was poor and it's her voice that's in my head, admonishing me. I clip coupons, visit grocery stores just for sales, pick up pennies from the sidewalk, buy second-hand clothes on eBay whenever possible. And then I splurge on theater tickets and old pawn Native American jewelry. I am not the only person in the world to be irrational about money.

About dry cleaning, it annoys me that there is a set price for men's dress shirts, but anything a woman wears that buttons up the front is called a blouse and costs twice as much to clean. Then there's my buying second hand, which means a few times dry cleaning some blouses costs more than the blouses did initially.

I'm not a highly paid professional but I have outsourced my housecleaning, part of cooking, part of pet care, and part of laundry. Hubby does the last 3 and we split the cost of the housecleaning as he is not a highly paid professional either.

It was worth it to me to give up the money for some of our entertainment to come home to a reasonably clean house.

If I could find someone reliable to do weeding and basic gardening every 2 weeks I'd outsource that too!

Dagmar

I loathe ironing. I recently bought a shirt that in the catalog appeared to be a regular t-shirt, but upon opening it, I found that it is something that has to be ironed. So it won't be worn as much because I hate having to get the board and iron out to do such a chore. Laundry here is done by "Hop Sing" (most of you are old enough for that reference). Hop Sing is what my DH calls himself when doing the laundry. Sometimes I help out, but he enjoys doing it. It stemmed from our days when the kids were little and I'd leave him home while I did the running around. He got to watch the kids, watch TV and do the laundry while watching TV. It just stuck. That said, we hire out the house cleaning and gardening. Small chores we'll do ourselves, but recently we had the house repainted--inside and out--and of course hired that out.

I do not have a problem with flushing or headaches when drinking alcohol. That said, we are still on our Monday - Thursday no alcohol in hopes that it'll help me lose weight (it isn't helping so far) and with DH's blood sugar. He has an appointment with his doctor this week as I brought up to him that his sugar was too high (could smell it on his breath). We got him a monitor (his doctor has not said he needed to monitor his sugar) and his sugar is ranging from 190 to 230--way too high. I checked mine for sh** and giggles and was at 92.

Mum has just offered me a blackcurrant sundae and I said 'No, thank you'.

On the ironing - I hate it. Never do it. DH irons his stuff sometimes, as he likes crisp as well. Me, I toss it in the dryer to fluff a little. Or dry clean it.

On the outsourcing - we used to outsource out lawn care, but I like mowing for exercise so now we just do the chemical treatments to the yard and seeding and stuff.

If I could afford I housekeeper to clean I would do it in a heartbeat.

On the flush from alcohol - I learned from my dermatologist this summer that in most people that is a histamine flush, from a mild allergic reaction to fermented beverages and foods. If you get hives or have a severe allergic reaction to something like I did this summer, you can kickstart it even if you never had it before. Menopause can also trigger it. It happens to me all the time now, even with a small amount. It also happens with kombucha, and looks exactly the same on my face as wine. You can take a mild antihistamine right before drinking and it will mitigate the effects.

Andrea, we're in central Oregon. And yes, I also assumed more temperate. We had 5 inches of snow last night; turned to sleet while I was walking to work today. At the dinner party last night, it was confirmed that it's been an abnormally long, cold and dark winter - by now there are usually glimpses of sun. I hope you're doing a bit better; I know what you mean about pointless acts of rebellion like only working 9 hours a day, when the only person who cares is you and only you will suffer for it.

Shannon, I hope you're feeling a bit better too with your grandpa out of the hospital. I wonder if my worsening alcohol response is due to my decreased consumption over time (chicken/egg situation), or to impending menopause. I'm 41, so far no other signs.

No ironing for me or DH ever, unless major event impending.

I exercised this weekend, both days, for several hours. It was really great for anxiety relief. Plus I did the rowing machine which I generally avoid (it hurts my wrists); what an intense leg workout that can be.

Tuesday morning, and I'm at 155.5.

The doctor appointment went pretty much as I'd expected, but I did not evaporate under male disapproval when he told me how much weight I'd gained.

He said don't do so much weight training, stick to cardio to help with fat loss. He seemed at a loss when I told him that I like lifting weights. I've decided that I am not going to listen to him. What I am going to do instead is practice portion control. I still need to solve the issue of stress relief.

I had a fairly quiet day at work yesterday because a meeting was canceled. It just makes me ask myself if there was something I could have caught up on, because those times that are quiet are deceptive, just a calm before the storm.

Wednesday morning, woke up really hungry, was disappointed to see 155.9. Resolved to keep going anyway with my portion-controlled breakfast.

Yesterday was a rather bored and restless day. Work slowed down. It was unnatural and left me uneasy: What could I be doing to prepare for the next onslaught? What had I forgotten to do that I ought to be doing?